The Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2025 held in Long Beach turned into a global tech hotspot last week, showcasing some of the most exciting innovations in Extended Reality (XR). Industry giants like Qualcomm, Snap, Sony, and Samsung used the platform to launch futuristic XR gadgets, AI-powered hardware, and breakthrough display technologies.
This year’s event focused on lightweight design, AI integration, and immersive user experiences, pushing the boundaries of how we engage with digital and physical realities.
Qualcomm, a global leader in mobile chipsets, stole the spotlight with its latest Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset, purpose-built for XR and AI processing. The company demonstrated how the chip offers twice the AI performance of its predecessor while consuming less power—an essential requirement for headsets and glasses.
The Snapdragon XR2+ powers multiple devices showcased at AWE, including Sony’s XREAL Air 2 Ultra and Snap’s Spectacles prototypes. Qualcomm’s AI-centric design allows real-time spatial recognition, object detection, and voice interaction, opening up new possibilities for both consumers and enterprise use.
Learn more about Snapdragon XR2+ at Qualcomm’s official site
Snap Inc., known for its popular Spectacles, revealed a new prototype of AR glasses that is thinner, lighter, and smarter than previous versions. These AR specs integrate Qualcomm’s AI chips, allowing for real-time image processing, facial recognition, and seamless social media integration.
The company emphasized everyday use and style. Unlike bulky XR headsets, Snap’s glasses are designed to be worn comfortably for hours. A demo showed how users could see contextual information overlaid on real-world objects, highlighting potential for education, tourism, and retail.
Visit Snap Inc.’s Spectacles page for updates on upcoming releases.
Sony’s presence at the event generated buzz with the introduction of the XREAL Air 2 Ultra, a sleek pair of XR glasses running on Android. Developed in collaboration with XREAL (formerly Nreal), the glasses are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR chip and support native Android apps directly on the device.
Designed for media consumption, gaming, and productivity, the glasses offer a high refresh rate display and wireless connectivity to smartphones and PCs. Sony also hinted at integrating PlayStation Remote Play into the XR platform, giving gamers a portable immersive experience.
One of the most talked-about innovations at AWE 2025 was the unveiling of NeuralDisplay’s eye-tracking XR module, which can be embedded into AR and VR headsets. This new technology enables real-time gaze detection, allowing XR devices to respond instantly to where a user is looking.
Unlike traditional motion control, this approach improves navigation, interaction speed, and energy efficiency. The eye-tracking module also introduces foveated rendering, a technique that sharpens images where the eye is focused while reducing the resolution elsewhere, optimizing graphics performance.
NeuralDisplay is currently in talks with major hardware brands for integration in future commercial products.
Samsung’s display division revealed a breakthrough in XR screen tech—Ultra-bright OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon) panels. These microdisplays are designed to overcome one of XR’s biggest challenges: visibility in direct sunlight.
Samsung’s OLEDoS panels boast a brightness of over 10,000 nits, setting a new benchmark for wearable display clarity. These panels are ultra-compact, ideal for compact AR glasses and mixed-reality headsets. Attendees praised their vivid color reproduction, low power usage, and incredible pixel density.
These displays are expected to appear in XR headsets by 2026, with developers already receiving evaluation kits.
Beyond product launches, the Augmented World Expo featured panel discussions, live demos, and hands-on workshops. Experts discussed the growing role of AI in XR, the challenges of user adoption, and the importance of lightweight, fashionable devices.
Startups and researchers also participated, showcasing haptic feedback gloves, brain-computer interfaces, and shared virtual workspaces. These developments point toward a future where XR becomes as normal as smartphones in our daily routines.
The event highlighted how AI integration, real-time interactivity, and visual comfort are now key priorities for XR developers.
With powerful chips, stylish designs, and high-performance displays, the XR gadgets showcased at AWE 2025 demonstrate that the industry is moving beyond experimental phases. As enterprise, education, and entertainment sectors adopt these tools, mass consumer adoption appears imminent.
Experts believe 2025-2026 will be pivotal years for XR as the hardware becomes more accessible and app ecosystems mature. Companies like Meta, Google, and Apple, while absent from the expo floor, are expected to make major announcements later this year.
The Augmented World Expo 2025 in Long Beach proved that XR is no longer a niche tech—it’s a rapidly growing sector ready to redefine human interaction with the digital world. With innovations from Qualcomm, Snap, Sony, NeuralDisplay, and Samsung, the future of XR looks brighter, lighter, and smarter than ever before.
Keep watching this space as these exciting gadgets begin to hit the market in late 2025 and early 2026.
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